Patna High Court
Shailesh KumarversusState of Bihar
- Decided
- Disposal
- DISMISSED
Holding
The Letters Patent Appeal is dismissed, and the Single Judge’s order is upheld.
Summary
Shailesh Kumar, an advocate, filed a writ petition seeking a duplicate Class 10 marks sheet, registration with the Bihar State Bar Council, and compensation for alleged delay and harassment. The Bihar School Examination Board (BSEB) investigated and, after discovering missing entries in its tabulation register, obtained the original cross‑list from the school and issued the duplicate marks sheet on 2 May 2025. The Single Judge held that while the Board eventually complied, the delay did not constitute deliberate neglect and therefore denied compensation. On appeal, the High Court examined whether the Single Judge’s findings were perverse, whether laches applied, and whether the petitioner’s fundamental rights were violated. Finding no perversity, no laches, and no violation of rights, the Court dismissed the Letters Patent Appeal, upholding the lower court’s order.
Issues considered
- Whether the Bihar School Examination Board’s delay in issuing a duplicate Class 10 marks sheet warrants compensation to the petitioner.
- Whether the petitioner’s fundamental right to education or other rights were violated by the Board’s actions.
- Whether the Single Judge’s order is perverse or liable to be set aside on appeal.
- Whether the doctrine of laches applies to the Board’s delay in providing the duplicate certificate.
Subjects
- duplicate mark sheet
- education board
- delay
- compensation
- fundamental rights
- letters patent appeal
- laches
- perverse order
Judgment
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA
Letters Patent Appeal No.644 of 2025
In
Civil Writ Jurisdiction Case No.1279 of 2025
======================================================
Shailesh Kumar S/o- Ram Bilash Chaurasia, Vi and P.O.- Bahuara, P.S.-
Parihara, Distt. - Begusarai, Via- Khagaria, 851204 (M)- 7761880204,
7909066556).
... ... Appellant/s
Versus
1. State of Bihar (Through Secretary, Department of Education, Govt. of Bihar,
Vikash Bhawan, Punaichak, Patna, Bihar - 800015)
2. Bihar School Examination Board (Through Secretary, Bihar School
Examination Board, Budha Marg, Patna, Bihar - 800001)
3. Bihar State Bar Council (Through Secretary, Bihar State Bar Council, Bar
Council Bhawan, East of Patna High Court, Patna, Bihar - 800001).
... ... Respondent/s
======================================================
Appearance :
For the Appellant/s : Mr.Shailesh Kumar (In Person)
For the State : Mr. Sarvesh Kumar Singh, AAG-13
For the BSEB : Mr.Siddhartha Prasad, Adv.
======================================================
CORAM: HONOURABLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE
and
HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE MOHIT KUMAR SHAH
ORAL JUDGMENT
(Per: HONOURABLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE)
Date : 20-01-2026
This Letters Patent Appeal has been filed by the
petitioner, namely Shailesh Kumar, who is an advocate of this
Court, challenging the impugned order dated 6.5.2025, passed
by the learned Single Judge in Civil Writ Jurisdiction Case No.
1279 of 2025.
2. The writ petition was filed seeking the following reliefs:-
“1(a). Direction to respondent no. 2 to provide matric
(class 10") secondary marks sheet for which petitioner
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has applied on 18/6/2018 and to take application for
secondary original certificate of matric (class 10th)
with proper fee and provide secondary original
certificate within reasonable time.
(b). Direction to respondent no.-3 the Bihar State Bar
Council to register to petitioner and provide
registration number. If they have doubt on the 10th
degree then they can verify it from Bihar School
Examination Board and/or S.M.H. School, Bela Simri,
Khagaria.
(c) Direction for compensation to petitioner for not
providing secondary marks sheet even when they
applied on 18/6/2018 and visited to BSEB Munger
regional office more than 20 times from June 2018 to
yet and faced harassment from last 6+ years.”
3. Counter affidavit was filed by the Respondent No. 2
wherein relevant paragraphs no. 8 to 18 are reproduced
hereinbelow:-
“8. That it is submitted that from perusal of the writ
petition it is evident that the petitioner claims that he
has passed his Matriculation Examination 1996 (A),
under Roll Code-04304, Roll No.-0358 from S M
HIGH SCHOOL BELA SIMRI, Dist. - Khagaria,
conducted by the Bihar School Examination Board
(referred to as 'the Board' hereinafter) and
accordingly the Marks sheet and Certificate was duly
been issued in his name. It is submitted that, it was
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however in the year 2013 the petitioner claims to have
lost his testimonials while travelling, including his
Matric (10th) Marks sheet and Certificate. That the
petitioner further claims that he also submitted a
complaint before Fatuha GRP in this regard but yet
the bag could not be recovered thereafter the
petitioner contends to have applied for issuance of
duplicate Secondary School Examination Marks Sheet
at the Munger Regional Office of the Board. Further,
it is submitted that petitioner also claims that in want
of the original Matriculation Marks sheet and
Certificate even his registration at the Bihar State Bar
Council has been kept pending.
9. That it is humbly submitted that it is after having
come to know of the issue so raised by the petitioner
that he has requested for the re-issuance of 10th
original Matriculation Marks sheet, for curing the
issue of the petitioner, a Five Member sub-committee
was constituted by the Board vide office order bearing
S.P. 352 dated 04.04.2025 to enquire into the matter
for getting the issue resolved at the earliest.
10. That it is submitted that in course of enquiry, the
said sub-committee, it is found that the details of the
candidate namely SHAILESH KUMAR i.e. present
petitioner had not been uploaded under the D.M.S.
data. That it had further also been found by the said
sub-committee that under the relevant Tabulation
Register, the pages containing the details of present
petitioner i.e. the candidate namely SHAILESH
KUMAR under Roll No. 0358 under Roll Code 4303
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have not been found compiled therein though the
details of other candidates starting from Roll No. 01 to
0307 under Roll Code-4303 have been found compiled
therein.
11. That it is submitted that with the intent to complete
the enquiry and to gather the required details (missing
from the relevant Tabulation Register at the Board)
that it was vide letter no. K. 617 dated 04.04.2025 the
Board asked the headmaster of the school concerned
to furnish the Original Cross List, which had further
also been reiterated by the Board vide letter No. BP-
0021 dated 7.4.2025.
12. That it is submitted that in response thereof, the
attested cross list along with the entire original cross
list was sent by S M HIGH SCHOOL BELA SIMRI,
Dist. Khagaria, (through the concerned D.E.O.) vide
letter no. 316 dated 07.04.2025 through special
messenger at the Board's head office.
13. That it is further submitted that in the said attested
complete cross list sent by S.M. High School Bela
Simri pertaining to secondary annual examination
1996, Roll No. 0333 to 0400 under roll code 4303
stood mentioned and at page No. 1099 roll No. 0358
of Shailesh Kumar (petitioner) S/o Ram Bilas
Chourasia with date of birth 1.3.1982 total marks
0324, second Division, had stood mentioned.
14. That in this respect it also not out of place to
submit here that the Roll Code 4303 was allotted to
altogether 13 school under the district of Khagaria
though under the relevant Tabulation Register,
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available at the Board, the details of the candidates
from Roll No. 01 to 0307 under said Roll Code 4303
have been found mentioned i.e. the details of the
candidates of altogether twelve schools, who were
allotted the said Roll Code - 4303, wherein the last
12th school namely S.C. High School, Labhgao,
Jalkaura, Khagaria got enrolled candidates starting
from Roll no. 0218 to 0307 under said Roll Code have
been found. Accordingly, it has been gathered that
relevant page under the Tabulation Register
containing the details from Roll no. 0308 to Roll
No.0400, wherein the remaining candidate of S.C.
High School, Labhgao, Jalkaura, Khagaria from Roll
no. 0308 to 0332 and the candidates of S. M. HIGH
SCHOOL BELA SIMRI, Khagaria i.e. present
petitioner school starting from Roll no. 0333 to 0400,
either got torn or had not been compiled.
15. That it is further submitted that it was accordingly
after completing the enquiry the committee vide its
final report contained in memo no. BSEB/SS/AO
20/2025 dated 16.04.2025 recommended to
immediately prepare the Duplicate Copy of Marks
Sheet pertaining to petitioner Secondary School
Examination 1996 on the basis of the Original Cross
List duly attested by the District Education Officer,
Khagaria and made available to the Board and
thereafter immediately supply it to the Candidate
namely SHAILESH KUMAR (Petitioner).
16. That it is submitted that accordingly a duplicate
copy of the Marks Sheet pertaining to petitioner
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Secondary School Examination 1996 (Annual) under
Roll Code 04303 Roll No. 0324, duly been got
prepared / printed and sent to the petitioner on his
official address i.e. SHAILESH KUMAR, S/O Ram
Bilash Chaurasia, Vill. Post Bahuara, P. S.-Parihara,
Distt. Begusarai, Via Khagaria, Bihar, PIN Code -
851204, by the Board vide its letter bearing BP-0026
dated 02.05.2025.
17. That it is submitted that from perusal from
Annexure P/4 which is the photocopy of the
application along with the receipt of fees deposited by
the petitioner for issuance of duplicate mark-sheet and
accordingly duplicate marksheet had duly been issued
to the petitioner.
18. That in view of above fact as stated, it is humbly
submitted that the grievance of the petitioner, insofar
as it related to the Board, has been redressed, though
some delay occurred in providing the duplicate copy
of the Marks Sheet pertaining to petitioner Secondary
School Examination 1996, however the same is
neither intentional or deliberate on the part of the
answering respondent which is apparent from the facts
mentioned above.”
4. The learned Single Judge, after hearing the learned
counsels for the respective parties, has been pleased to hold as
follows:-
“5. Since the petitioner passed the examination in the
year 1996 and the matter was very old, the board
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constituted a five-member Sub-Committee vide office
order bearing No. 4425 to inquire into the matter for
getting the issue resolved at the earliest. During
course of inquiry, the committee has found that the
details of the candidate namely Shailesh Kumar had
not been uploaded under the DMS data. The Sub-
Committee also found that under the relevant
tabulation registration, the pages containing the
details of present petitioner, the candidate name, roll
number, roll code have not been found complied
therein. Though, the details of other candidates
starting from Roll No. 12307 under Roll Code 4303
have been found complied therein.
6. He further submits that in order to complete the
inquiry and to gather the required details, the Board
asked the Headmaster of the concerned school to
furnish the original cross list. In response to the same,
the school sent the original attested cross list and
entire original cross list through DO and special
messenger. The attested cross list pertaining to
Secondary Annual Examination 1996 sent by the
school under Roll No. 333 to 400 and under Roll
Code 4303, it was found that the petitioner passed in
second division having date of birth 01.03.1982. The
committee submitted its final report on 16.04.2025
recommending to prepare the duplicate copy of mark
sheet pertaining to the petitioner for the Annual
Examination 1996 on the basis of the original cross
list duly attested by DEO, Khagaria. Immediately
thereafter, on 02.05.2025 the mark sheet of the
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petitioner was sent on his official address through
office address vide letter dated 02.05.2025.
7. I have heard learned counsel for the parties and
have gone through the materials available on record.
The grievance of the petitioner for having duplicate
copy of the mark sheet has been fulfilled. The claim of
the petitioner for grant of compensation cannot be
allowed for the reasons that the certificate/mark sheet
of the petitioner lost in 2013 but he applied for
duplicate copy after five years in 2018. Since the
matter was very old i.e., of 1996, the Board took time
in order to search the details and ultimately issue was
resolved after forming a Sub-Committee which
submitted its report after calling the cross list from
the concerned school. There is no deliberate latches
and delay on part of the Board. The petitioner has not
made out a case of violation of his fundamental
rights.”
5. The petitioner submits that stipulated period has been
prescribed under the statute to provide the duplicate copy of the
certificate but in the case in hand, the authorities took almost
seven years to supply the duplicate certificate.
6. In the Letters Patent Appeal also, counter affidavit has
been filed by the Respondent No. 2 i.e. the Law Officer of the
Bihar School Examination Board, relevant paragraphs whereof
being paras no. 7 to 18 are reproduced hereinbelow:-
“7. That it is humbly submitted that in the aforesaid
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backdrop it would be relevant to submit here that after
disposal of the writ petition, the present
appellant/petitioner had deposited the prescribed fee
of Rs 2500/- for the purposes of issuance of secondary
certificate at the Board vide receipt bearing ID
number 431070 dated 16/05/2025 (appended to
present memo of appeal as well).
8. That it is pertinent to mention here that it was
accordingly that the secondary certificate pertaining
to present appellant / petitioner namely SHAILESH
KUMAR's 'SECONDARY SCHOOL EXAMINATION
1996 got duly prepared and issued by the Printing
Cell of the Board and sent to the address provided by
the appellant petitioner through post bearing RF No.
435842339IN on 22/07/2025.
9. That it is pertinent to mention here that in view of
filing of present LPA appeal before the Hon'ble Court,
in the present context it is humbly submitted that the
answering respondent i.e. the Bihar School
Examination Board craves for leave to
produce/recapitulate the brief facts addressing to the
issues as raised by the present appellant/ petitioner
through the connecting writ & in present memo of
appeal so far as it relate to the Board, for
appreciation even at this stage.
10. That it is pertinent to mention here in this regard
that after receipt of the copy of connecting writ, the
matter of non-issuance of Duplicate Marks Sheet
pertaining to appellant/petitioner 1996 Matriculation
Examination taken up a very serious matter at the
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Board, since it was despite of receiving the requisite
amount and generating an ID in the matter viz. ID no.
2106811 for the purposes of issuance of Duplicate
Marks Sheet (appended as Annexure- P4 to writ
petition), the required Marks Sheet could not been
issued, accordingly the matter got enquired by
constituting a Five Member high level committee by
the Board vide office order bearing S.P. 352 dated
04.04.2025.
11. That it is humbly submitted that it was accordingly
in order to complete the enquiry and to gather the
relevant information & missing details of the
candidates concerned from the relevant Tabulation
Register at the Board that it was vide letter no. K. 617
dated 04.04.2025 the Board asked the headmaster of
the school concerned to furnish the Original Cross
List sent to the school by the Board at the relevant
point of time earlier.
12. That it is humbly submitted that in response
thereof the Headmaster of S M HIGH SCHOOL BELA
SIMRI, Dist. - Khagaria, vide its letter no. 315 dated
05.04.2025 sent only one page of the said Original
Cross List containing details of candidates from Roll
No. 0348 to 0362 under Roll Code-4303, it was
however in order to clarify the factual matrix further
in its totality that it was vide letter bearing BP-0021
dated 07.04.2025 the Board again asked the S M
HIGH SCHOOL BELA SIMRI school to make
available the complete Original Cross List containing
details of candidates under Roll Code-4303.
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13. That is pertinent to mention here that it was
accordingly in response that a duly attested copy of
the said Original Cross List containing details of the
candidates under Roll Code - 4303 from the District
Education Officer had been sent to the Board by the
school through its special messenger with its covering
letter bearing letter no. 316 dated 07.04.2025.
14. That it is pertinent to mention here that from
perusal of said Original Cross List pertaining to
Secondary School Examination 1996, at page no.
1099, the details of the candidate concerned namely
SHAILESH KUMAR i.e. present appellant / petitioner
under Roll No. 0358 under Roll Code -4303, Father's
Name RAM BILASH CHAURASIA, Date of Birth
01.03.1982, Total Marks obtained-0324, Division -
IInd have been found inscribed therein.
15. That it is pertinent to mention here that the Roll
Code-4303 was allotted to altogether 13 schools
under the district of Khagaria though under the
relevant Tabulation Register, available at th Board,
the pages containing the details of the candidates from
Roll no. 01 to 0307 under said roll Code-4303 had
been found i.e. the details of the candidates of
altogether twelve schools, who were allotted Roll No.
4303, wherein the last 12th school namely S.C. High
School, Labhgao, Jalkaura, Khagaria having enrolled
candidates starting from Roll no. 0218 to 0307 under
said Roll Code had been found missing; accordingly it
has been gathered that the some of the page under the
Tabulation Register, containing the details from Roll
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no 0308 to Roll No.0400 i.e, the candidate of S.C.
High School, Labhgao, Jalkaura, Khagaria from Roll
no. 0308 to 0332 and the candidates of S. M HIGH
SCHOOL BELA SIMRI, Khagaria i.e. present
appellant/petitioner's school starting from Roll no.
0333 to 0400, either got torn or could not be
compiled/attached therein.
16. That it is humbly submitted that it was accordingly
after completing the enquiry the committee vide its
final report contained in memo no.BSEB/SS/AO
20/2025 dated 16.04.2025 recommended to
immediately prepare the Duplicate Copy of Marks
Sheet pertaining to present appellant / petitioner's
Secondary School Examination 1996 on the basis of
the Original Cross List which was duly attested by the
District Education Officer, Khagaria and make it
available to the Board and thereafter immediately
supply it to the candidate namely SHAILESH KUMAR
(present appellant/Petitioner).
17. That it is humbly submitted that accordingly a
duplicate copy of the Marks Sheet pertaining to
present appellant / petitioner's Secondary School
Examination 1996 (Annual) under Roll Code 04303
Roll No. 0324, duly been got prepared/printed and
sent to the appellant/petitioner on his official address
i.e. SHAILESH KUMAR, S/O - Ram Bilash Chaurasia,
Vill. Post - Bahuara, P. S. Parihara, Distt. Begusarai,
Via - Khagaria, Bihar, PIN Code 851204, by the
Board vide its letter bearing BP-0026 dated
02.05.2025, which was admittedly received by him as
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well.
18. That it is humbly submitted that taking into
account the standing fact that the grievance of the
present appellant / petitioner stood redressed and
finding that although some delay occurred in
providing the copy of the Marks Sheet pertaining to
his Secondary School Examination 1996, the same
was neither intentional nor deliberate on the part of
the Board.”
7. After going through the averments made in the counter
affidavit, we find that there is no laches on the part of the
authorities concerned to supply the duplicate certificate. In an
intra-Court appeal, the Division Bench should not interfere with
the order of the learned Single Judge unless it reaches to a
conclusion that the finding is perverse and merely because
another view or a better view is possible, there should be no
interference with or disturbance of the order, passed by the
learned Single Judge. Letters Patent Appeal provides internal
check and balance, ensuring judicial accountability and
oversight and protects citizens rights allowing for a more
thorough review of a Single Judge's decision.
8. After going through the pleadings, the stand taken by the
Respondents in the counter affidavit, we find that there is no
perversity in the impugned order. Therefore, the prayer of the
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petitioner in this Letters Patent Appeal cannot be entertained.
9. Accordingly, the present Letters Patent Appeal stands
dismissed.
(Sangam Kumar Sahoo, CJ)
( Mohit Kumar Shah, J)
Ajay/S.Sb-
AFR/NAFR
CAV DATE NA
Uploading Date 21.01.2026
Transmission Date NA
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